


The Human World Is A Mess(but not with you)

by Professional_number_cruncher



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Cruz is fillmores niece, Fillmore is a beach bum, M/M, mermaid au, she's there because we like her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28504920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Professional_number_cruncher/pseuds/Professional_number_cruncher
Summary: Fillmore wasn’t exactly a beach bum. Sure, he spent a lot of his time surfing, or getting high, but he also had a job and made do for himself. So his job was maintaining an Airbnb that his parents had owned, and they supported him here and there and-Okay, he kind of was a beach bum.
Relationships: Fillmore/Sarge (Cars)
Kudos: 9





	The Human World Is A Mess(but not with you)

Fillmore wasn’t exactly a beach bum. Sure, he spent a lot of his time surfing, or getting high, but he also had a job and made do for himself. So his job was maintaining an Airbnb that his parents had owned, and they supported him here and there and-

Okay, he kind of was a beach bum.

But he was responsible enough.

He always made sure he checked every box on his to-do list before he went out for the day.

Fillmore was lucky he had help. If not for his niece he was pretty sure he’d’ve burned the place to the ground. Not that he’d ever tell Cruz that, she had a big enough head as is. She was 18 and supposed to be partying before she went to college, but...she wasn’t too interested in that, which worked in his favor.

Of course, he wanted her to have fun and do things when she was young, but he wasn’t going to force her to if she didn’t want to. And they weren’t that far apart in age. It was unfair to expect him to be the adult.

“Fil?” Cruz called from the kitchen, and he perked up, “Can you check the cove? I think I saw some campers head there and I want to know if it needs to get cleaned up.”

Fil nodded, “Yeah Ci, I can do that.”

The cove in question was a bay in the cave that was a mile or two down the beach. Despite the distance, their family had more or less adopted the land, since it was remote and the new residents on the beach don’t usually know of it. It wasn’t technically part of the property, but it might as well have been, and Fillmore was planning to go over there anyways.

That’s probably why Cruz asked. She was remarkably aware of the world around her, also she knew by now that Fil was horribly predictable.

He grabbed his phone and portable stereo and a reusable bag, deciding if it is a mess, he might as well clean it himself.

Cruz waved at him as he opened the door to leave, “Be back soon.”

“Because there’s a new guest and you want to make a good impression or because you care?” He teased.

“Both,” she grinned.

Fil rolled his eyes and walked out the door, setting an alarm for two hours, and then turned on his stereo. He scrolled as he walked before settling some surf rock to fill the silence of his walk.

When he got there, he smiled to himself. There wasn’t hardly anything to clean up. Enough to know someone had been there, but not much. Fil set the bag, phone, and speaker down, turning the music down now that the echo of the cave was a factor, before picking up the bits of litter scattered around and rolling some driftwood back into the water.

Fillmore had been through this drill a few times, but never has the driftwood been pushed back onto the shore. He frowned and approached the water, jumping when he heard the gurgling of his stereo entering water. The man sighed, glad he chose one that’s waterproof and then stepped in the water.

Stepped on skin in the water.

Fil let out a _very_ manly scream.

It took awhile for his ears to stop ringing, his legs back on shore completely, but when they did, he heard, “Are you done?”

“The dead body is talking to me.” Fil gasped, hesitantly opening his eyes to see a man. An alive man. A _hot_ alive man.

“I’m not fucking dead,” the man rolled his eyes.

“...I see that,” Fil nodded, then cleared his throat, “Is, uh, your arm? Or leg or….whatever I stepped on...okay?”

“I’m fine,” he answered, “what the hell are you doing?”

He paused, before lamely offering, “...cleaning…?”

“You’re cleaning,” he repeated.

“Yeah,” Fil nodded, “I’m uh…..I’m Fillmore. Or Fil. Hi.”

“Why are you _here?_ ” The man asked.

“To...to clean?” Fil gestured awkwardly at the bag, “Some campers were here last night?”

“You just… keep an eye on this specific area?”

“...yeah, pretty much.”

“Why?”

Fil shrugged, “I don’t know the exact reason. I can call my great aunt if you want? She probably knows. Or Cruz would…”

“Great aunt?” He repeated.

“Yeah, my grandpa’s sister, they…” he paused, “Wait why do you care about our family history, I don’t even know your name.”

“... Sarge. And I’ve just never heard that term?”

“Like sergeant?” Fillmore hummed, “Are all your grandparents only children? That sounds unusual. Do you not know what an aunt is?”

“I... _know_ what an aunt is,” Sarge huffed.

“Okay, I’ll back off.” Fil laughed, “Hey, my speaker fell in the water, could you grab it for me? It’s like...mint green, should still be playing music.”

Sarge held it out, “This?”

“Oh, yeah, thanks, man,” Fil took the speaker and set it on the other side of the bag of trash, “So why are you here?”

Sarge paused a moment, “I live here.”

“Oh, I thought we knew our neighbors. Are you related to the folk that moved into that one story house that has the funky glass on the porch? I think they mentioned having a son.”

Sarge shook his head, “No.”

“Then…” Fillmore hummed, “where? You can get out of the water, you know,” he added, as an afterthought, “I’ll cover my eyes or turn around if you’re skinny dipping or something.”

“I live _here_ ,” Sarge gestured around the cave, “And no I can’t.”

“You… what?”

“In this cave. It’s got good cover.”

“Cover?” Fil asked, “What,are you in trouble with the law or something?” he paused, “Are you a runaway? Because we get missing persons cases… not _often_ , but kind of often.”

“...from the weather? And people.” Sarge frowned.

Fillmore nodded, “I’ve come in here to wait out storms before.”

“...I’ve never noticed you before.”

He laughed, “I’ve never noticed you either.”

“You don’t live here.”

“Well I live pretty close to here,” Fillmore shrugged, “and I spend a lot of time here.”

“I’ve only ever seen surfers.” Sarge hummed.

“Oh,” Fillmore laughed, “yeah, I usually have my board when I’m here.”

“Oh.” He nodded, “Then I think I’ve seen you. Your hair is shorter sometimes.”

“My niece’s hair is a little shorter than mine, people mix us up from a distance all the time.”

“Oh. Your...niece,” Sarge nodded, “That makes sense.”

Fillmore hummed, “Yeah, I don’t see it, but I guess we look pretty similar.”

“Your niece sounds different though,” Sarge stated.

“Sounds different?”

He nodded, “Yeah. You and your niece do.”

Fillmore nodded, “Yeah. We do.”

“The...speaker is a different color too.” Sarge continued, drawing more differences to the front of his mind.

“Yeah, she usually takes the yellow one, doesn’t she?”

“I guess. You stay longer than she does.” he concluded, “And collect shells.”

“You know that?” Fillmore tilted his head

“I live here.” Sarge repeated.

“Yeah I’m still not sure what you mean by that,” Fillmore said, “it usually looks pretty untouched in here.”

He rolled his eyes, “Not up there.”

“So what? You live in the water?” Fillmore joked.

Sarge paused, then nodded, “Yeah.”

“... you’re serious?”

“Yeah?”

Fillmore laughed, “No you aren’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Sarge frowned.

“Because you can’t just _live_ underwater.”

“...but I do?” The man in the water offered lamely.

“... how?”

Sarge blinked, “How what?”

“How do you live _in_ the water?”

“Well gills help.” Sarge shrugged, leaning on the shore.

“Gills?” Fillmore repeated, skeptical.

The man paused and then pulled himself onto the land, revealing gills just below his pectorals, as well as scales climbing up his body from his hips, “Gills.”

“Are those scales?” Fillmore asked, reaching towards Sarge.

In response, he dropped back into the water, glaring at Fil, “What the fuck are you doing?” The water around him rippled, and scales reflected light through the water, an odd shade of green from what Fillmore could determine. That realization came about a minute before the realization that Sarge had a tail instead of legs. And fins. And gills. And-

Sarge was a merman.

“Holy shit,” Fillmore whispered.

“What?” the half fish lowered further in the water, as if hiding.

“You’re- you have,” Fillmore paused, “am I hallucinating?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Are you real?” Fillmore asked, dumbly.

Sarge laughed, only for a moment before nodding, “I think so, yes.”

“And you have a tail.”

“...That’s the word for it, yes.” Sarge flicked it up, and Fil could clearly see the fins at the end.

Fillmore was still looking at the ripples his tail had left, “Whoa.”

“Woah?” Sarge repeated.

“I… yeah. Whoa.”

There was a loud ringing, causing the merman to duck under the water. Fil scrambled, grabbing his phone and turning the alarm off. He sighed, “I...have to go?”

Sarge nodded, “You… have to go.”

“Yeah, I told Cruz I wouldn’t be gone long.”

“Cruz,” he repeated.

“My niece,” Fillmore clarified, “my… older brother’s kid.”

“Oh,” Sarge nodded, “Okay. So...you’re leaving?”

“Yeah but I… I won’t tell anyone? And I’ll probably be back. I mean I hang out here all the time.”

The aquatic man nodded, ducking under the water. Fil stares until the scales aren’t visible anymore, then picks up the bag and his stuff. He sighed, starting the walk back, already wondering about the next time he meets the merman.

When he got back, Cruz was already showing the guest around, and she shot him a dirty look when she noticed he was back. The guest was a woman, probably around Cruz’s age, who was focused on the coast out the window. Fil sighed, taking the bag of trash to the back and then returning to just his niece. “New guest in her room?” he asked.

She nodded, “Took you long enough, was it bad?”

Fillmore shrugged, “I’ve seen worse, I’m going to head back out, I think.”

“What?” Cruz frowned.

“Just for a little bit,” he shrugged.

“What if I say no?”

“Is there anything you need me for?”

“Knowing that you’re not murdered is pretty helpful. I don’t think our guests or neighbors would like a corpse by the beach,” Cruz rolled her eyes, “I texted while you were out and you didn’t answer, what were you actually doing?”

“... cleaning?” Fillmore answered.

“Bullshit.”

“I was!”

“Dude, you said it wasn’t that bad but you were gone for three hours?” Cruz countered.

“It was only two!” He argued.

“Which is too many to have cleaned up the cove if it wasn’t that bad.”

“... no it isn’t.”

“What were you really doing?”

Fillmore sighed, “I already told you.”

“Were you getting high?” Cruz rolled her eyes.

Fillmore debated lying and saying yes, “No.”

She sighed, “I’m going with you. Make me lunch first.”

“... Fine.”

“Thanks,” Cruz softened, “Did you get any cool shells? Is that what’s up?”

“No,” Fillmore hummed, “I wasn’t really looking at shells.”

“You’re acting weird, you know.”

“No I’m not,” he answered, “what do you want?”

“The...truth?” The girl blinked, “What?”

“For lunch, dumbass.”

“Oh. Uh…” Cruz shrugged, “You pick.”

“No, I asked you.”

“Sandwich.”

Fillmore laughed, getting out the bread, “Boring.”

“And easy,” Cruz shrugged, “And portable.”

“I guess so.”

“So once you’re done we can head out.” She smiled.

“Why do you want to tag along so badly?”

“Relaxing, figuring out why you’re so eager to go, fresh air,” she listed, “Take your pick.”

“I’m not eager,” he rolled his eyes.

“How would you describe it?”

“I spend all day out there,” Fillmore said, “I only came back the first time because you asked me to.”

Cruz nodded, “And then you were late.”

“I lost track of time,” he handed her a sandwich, “come on Cici, let’s go.”

“Don’t call me Cici,” she grumbled, writing a note to the only guest and leaving it on the counter, “Okay, let’s go.”

“Why not?” he asked, grinning.

Cruz walked out the door, bristling slightly, “Because it makes me feel like a child and I’m more responsible than you.”

“But you’re also younger than me.”

“By five years.” she countered.

“That’s still younger.”

Cruz shrugged, “Yeah, well, I don’t like when you call me Cici.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t call you Cici.”

“Thanks Fil.” she smiled, “Dad asked about you. He called to check in.”

He hummed, “Tell him I’m doing good.”

“You can text him yourself you know,” she hummed, elbowing him, “He’s your brother.”

“Yeah, I know,” he rolled his eyes, “but I don’t want to.”

“Did you two get in a fight again?” Cruz grumbled, watching the waves.

“Never resolved the last one,” Fillmore shrugged.

“That one was before I came out here,” she commented, turning her attention to the cove ahead.

“Was it?” Fillmore hummed.

“Yeah. When I got dropped off you two were giving each other the silent treatment so he forgot to say bye,” Cruz nodded, “and you made dinner but it was something he and I are both allergic to so instead I got taco bell.”

“Yeah, because no one ever relays information to me so I didn’t know your allergies,” Fillmore nodded.

“Then you told me I was poisoning myself with the fast food and…” Cruz sighed, “It was a long day.” She walked into the cave, staring at the bay, “I forget how pretty this place is sometimes.”

“You eat way too much fast food,” Fillmore commented, “you can make a lot of the shit you buy healthier.”

“I’m pretty busy most of the time. That’s why I let you cook.” she grinned, “Plus I’m bad at it.”

“I’ll teach you,” he offered.

Cruz shrugged, crouching by the shore and picking something up, holding it out for him to see. In her palms is a medium sized crab, as she beamed “The crabs are coming back!”

Fillmore hummed, “I didn’t notice them earlier.”

“You must’ve been distracted,” she lowers her hands into the water, letting the crab go. She looked up at him for a while and then admitted, “I used to take your board out and nap in here on it.”

“I know,” he nodded, “I did it all the time when I was younger and your parents were always worried you’d pick up the habit.”

“That makes sense though. Girl in a swimsuit, all alone, sleep balancing above the ocean,” she smiled, “It’s a pretty shit habit. I miss it though.”

Fillmore smiled, “I fell in one time when I was napping.”

Cruz blinked, “Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I went out when I was mad at your dad and was gone for a few hours trying to clear my head, and fell in.”

“You’re an idiot,” she laughed, “When I was little grandma told me there’s a family of mermaids that live in the cove and that that’s why we need to protect it.” The blonde stared at the water, sighing, “then Dad told me she’s senile.”

“That sounds like something he’d say,” Fillmore frowned.

Cruz shrugged, “She still told me stories sometimes, despite him. One time we camped out in here and I swore I saw one.” She smiled up at her uncle, “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“You thought you saw one?” Fillmore asked, crouching at the edge of the water.

“I was like...ten,” she frowned, “you know how kids are. It was probably the shadow of a dolphin or something.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

There was a few minutes of silence that she eventually broke, “Do you like anyone?”

“What?”

“Because you’re twenty five and you've only really had friends with benefits and I worry that you’re lonely.”

“I’m not lonely,” he rolled his eyes.

“Because it’s the summer rush and I’m here?” she teased.

“I’m fine, Cici.”

“It’s okay if you’re lonely,” she mumbled awkwardly.

“You don’t have to worry about me, focus on your own love life, Cruz.”

“I just think we’re both sorta….antisocial?” Cruz offered, “and it’s easy to feel like shit because of it.”

Fillmore’s voice softened, “Do you feel like shit?”

“Not right now, no.” she shook her head, “I don’t really know where I’m going with this.” Cruz stretched, joking “Must be all those mermaids.”

Fillmore hummed, “You know, no one ever told me about mermaids in this cove.”

“Really?” Cruz asked, then said, “That’s why I was so obsessed with Ariel. I’d use my grubby child hands to take the Portable DVD Player and The Little Mermaid movies and just sit out here and watch it.”

“Yeah, your mermaid phase was not short lived.”

“I was preparing to protect them like I was told.”

Fillmore sighed, “I can’t believe no one ever told me about the mermaids that live here.”

Cruz laughed, “You say that like they’re real.”

“They were real to mom apparently.” Fil answered after a beat, “And you.”

“I was a kid.”

“You still are, Ci,” he turned to look into the water, looking for any sign of movement.

“What are you looking for?”

“Mermaids,” he answered.

Cruz laughed, “I’m serious.”

Fil grinned, “Yeah, you always are these days.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I just...know you.” Fillmore shrugged, “You’re pretty confident you know me too.”

Cruz hummed, “Yeah okay,” she looked at her uncle, “why did you want to come back here so bad?”

Fil paused, then said, “It’s...good company.”

“I guess it is,” she nodded.

“And handsome.”

She blinked, “What?”

“You know, striking,” he offered, blushing, “well formed.”

“You… definitely need to get out more.”

“What? Why?” Fil frowned.

“Because,” Cruz said, “you’re being weird about a cave.”

“No I’m not. I’m appreciating nature.”

“No, you’re being weird.”

Fil continued, “Very built...nicely cut.”

“Who did you meet in the cave?” Cruz joked.

“A merman.” he stated, looking to Cruz.

“No you fucking didn’t.”

“Then let me wax poetic about the cave,” he rolled his eyes.

“Just be honest with me, dude.”

“I was,” Fil insisted.

“...Hi,” a new voice was there, and a face was at the shore where Fil had been standing.

Cruz screamed, then got her mouth covered by Fil, but very efficiently wiggled out of his grip and punched the mystery man’s face. She stared, wide eyed at Fil, “Are you getting me fucking kidnapped?”

“Yeah,” he rolled his eyes, “I wanted to go out alone because I was planning on getting you kidnapped.”

“Ow?” the man in the water hissed, “What the fuck?”

“Who is this?” Cruz asked her uncle.

“This is Sarge,” he said, before turning to the man, “are you okay?”

“My nose is bleeding. This is the niece?” Sarge grumbled, gripping his nose.

“Who...who’s Sarge? What’s going on?” Cruz frowned.

“Sarge is… who I met earlier. And yes, this is Cruz.”

“Oh the one you called a merman?”

“I am a merman. You’re exactly what I expected.” Sarge stated.

Cruz frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Bad,” He answered, boosting himself up onto the shore, “That’s how mermaids are too.”

“Holy shit he has fins,” Cruz whispered, not even caring about the insult.

Fillmore nodded, “Gills too.”

She nodded, “I see that.”

“Stop...looking at me like that,” he grumbled, glaring at them.

“So....grandma _isn’t_ senile?”

“No,” Fillmore shook his head, “she isn’t, your dad is just a prick.”

“And...I did see a mermaid when I was a kid…”

Fillmore elbowed her, “Nah, you probably were just imagining that.”

“When I was a guppy I used to come up to land a lot.” Sarge shrugged, “Used to watch movies.”

“You’d come up here and watch movies,” Cruz repeated.

He paused, “What’s a human guppy called?”

“A child?” Fil offered.

“A child used to watch them here,” Sarge nodded, “They weren’t real people. Lots of music and merfolk though.”

Cruz blinked, “I was just talking about- no fucking way.”

“No, stop, this-” Fillmore sighed, “Don’t you have a marine biologist to seduce?”

“Fil, shut the hell up,” Cruz crouched so she was closer to Sarge’s eye level, “Ariel? Little Mermaid? Green tail, red hair, uh….purple bra? She got legs?”

“That was bullshit,” Sarge stated.

“That she got legs?” she laughed, “It was super cool!”

He shook his head, “That’s not how things work.”

Cruz pouted, “So you can’t get legs to be with your true love?”

“Nope.”

She stared at Fil after that, but didn’t speak.

“It’s a kids movie, Cici. You can’t apply logic to it,” Fillmore hummed.

She rolled her eyes, “So, Sarge, if you wanted to date a human, how would that work?”

“Date?” he repeated.

“Uh...court...romance...seduce,” she listed off.

“I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”

“...Companionship? Mating?” she attempted, running out of words.

“If I wanted to mate with a human?” Sarge asked.

“Yeah,” Cruz nodded, “how would that work?”

“Seriously Cruz, don’t you have a marine biologist to crush on?” Fillmore asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve never done it.” Sarge said, “I guess we’d have to stay near each other. I don’t know how different merfolk and humans are.” He paused, “I’ve only felt the skin of a human once and it was Fillmore’s.”

Cruz nodded, “So it’s all new to you?”

Sarge slipped back into the water, humming, “You’re the first humans I’ve met.”

Fillmore sighed, “Cruz, stop it.”

“Stop what?” she smiled.

Sarge leans on the shore, “I don’t know what human mating rituals would be.”

Cruz grinned, “I bet Fil could tell you all about them.”

“We’re going home.” Fillmore stood, sighing, “Come on Cruz, I’ll let you order dinner.”

“Oh...you have to go?” Sarge blinked, “So you’re leaving?”

Fil smiled slightly despite his frustration, nodding, “Yeah, and Cruz too.”

“You… usually stay longer?” Sarge tilted his head.

“Uh...yeah, but usually that’s just me.” Fillmore offered.

“No speaker,” Sarge stated, “And no shells.”

Cruz stared curiously, completely in awe of their communication and how they seemed to completely understand each other. Her uncle looked at her, then back at the merman, before saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow?”

Sarge nodded, “Tomorrow.” Then he asked, “Cruz?”

“No, Cruz’ll be back home,” Fil answered for his niece, herding her out of the cove, “Bye Sarge.”

“Bye Fillmore, bye Cruz.”

The pair walked in silence for a long time, the tension clear. The girl stared at the sky, “Sorry, Fil.”

“It’s no big deal.”

“Seriously, I could tell you were uncomfortable and pushed it anyways, that wasn’t cool of me.” Cruz turned to him.

“It’s okay, Ci.”

“It isn’t. That’s like...shit my dad would pull.” she shook her head.

Fillmore frowned, “I said it’s okay, alright?”

She sighed, continuing to walk, “I guess.”

“Great,” he smiled, “so it’s okay.”

“...yeah,” she nodded. 

After that they were home and Cruz went to her room. Fil ordered some ubereats that they shared, but other than that it was a normal night.

For Fillmore, the next day couldn’t come soon enough. It was all irrational, being this excited to meet up with someone again, that someone being a merman, the butterflies Fil felt when he thought about Sarge. But when was Fillmore ever rational?

Apparently never, as the next morning he had made breakfast for two and packed it in a lunchbox. He grabbed his phone and surfboard as well before he left the large building. The walk was shorter today than yesterday, likely because he was rushing to reunite with the half fish man.

Once he arrived at the cove, Fillmore frowned. It was stupid to assume he’d be there, wasn’t it?

“Fillmore, you’re back,” Sarge popped his head above water, only his eyes above water, “No Cruz.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “no Cruz.”

The merman paused, then held his hands above water, revealing a dozen little crabs, “Still no Cruz?”

Fillmore laughed softly, “No, I think she’s trying to woo that marine biologist, Natalie.”

Sarge dropped the crustaceans into the water, then pointed at the surfboard, “You brought that?”

Fillmore glanced at it, “Yeah?”

He nodded, “why?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Sarge grinned and hummed, “You’re dumb.”

Fillmore hummed, “And after I brought you breakfast?”

“Breakfast?” he repeated, then asked, “You brought food?”

“Yeah,” Fillmore nodded.

Sarge sat on the edge of the shore, “Why?”

Fillmore shrugged, “Thought you might like it.”

“I’ve never had human food.”

Fillmore hummed, handing Sarge a portion, “You’ll have to tell me what you think.”

“What is it?” Sarge took the paper plate, admiring the pancakes and eggs.

“Pancakes and eggs,” Fillmore answered.

“I eat it?”

He nodded, “Yeah,”

Sarge picked up the pancake and lifted it to his mouth, hesitantly taking a bite. The man frowned, then took another bite, “I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?”

“What is it?” He set the pancake down.

“It’s… like a cake kind of? But,” Fillmore shrugged awkwardly, “it’s cooked in a pan.”

Sarge stared, “I don’t know what those are, Fil.”

Fillmore paused, “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“It is like sand.” Sarge said, “But soft.”

“It’s like sand?” Fillmore asked, raising an eyebrow, “Do you not like it?”

He paused, “It’s good.”

“It is?” Fillmore smiled.

“Yeah.” Sarge nodded, setting the pancake down, then picked up the eggs, “It’s squishy?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

He took a bite, then hummed, “It’s like the water.”

Fillmore laughed softly, “Alright.”

“Or biting a jellyfish.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“It feels like eggs.” Sarge stated.

“That… sounds right I guess.”

He paused, “How’d you get eggs to do this?”

“To do what?”

“Eggs are small,” Sarge frowned, “And these are all...cloudy.”

“Oh,” Fillmore nodded, “yeah, the eggs here are bigger and… different.”

He nodded, “Different. Like how you have legs all the time.”

“Yeah, like… all the time?”

“Don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Fillmore said, “but why did you specify all the time?”

“...Because you have them always.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that like saying that you have arms all the time?” Fillmore asked, “it doesn’t really change.”

Sarge frowned, “But I do have arms all the time. It’s different.”

“Do you not always have a tail?”

“I do, but I don’t like legs,” Sarge answered.

Fillmore blinked, “... Okay.”

“You don’t understand,” he said.

“No, I don’t.”

“I choose to always have a tail,” the merman offered.

“So it’s a choice you can make?”

“...yes?”

Fillmore nodded, “Alright.”

“Legs are uncomfortable.” Sarge said.

“They’re uncomfortable,” Fillmore repeated.

“Yeah, uncomfortable. Feel weird.”

“How so?”

Sarge frowned, “It’s hard to explain.”

Fillmore nodded, “I guess it would be.”

“I think I figured out some of Cruz’s question.”

“What question?”

“About mating?” Sarge answered, taking another bite of the pancake.

Fillmore hummed, “What did you figure out?”

“Well human people and merpeople are different kinds of the same...thing,” Sarge answered, “The bodies are built differently, but the uh...we affected each other in the past?” He paused, “It’s possible, just uncommon. But also not uncommon?”

Fillmore nodded, “So it’s a… thing that happens?”

Sarge nodded, “It can only go one way though.”

“That makes sense.”

“And then they don’t really come back.”

Fillmore hummed, “That sounds ominous.”

“Well usually merfolk decide to stay on land,” Sarge shrugged.

“But it’s still a choice and you could change your mind?” Fillmore clarified.

He shrugged, “It’s shameful to leave.”

Fillmore nodded, “I… see.”

“Maybe you could, but I don’t know of anyone who has,” Sarge answered.

“Oh, okay.”

“...Why?”

Fillmore shrugged, “... Just curious I guess.”

Sarge nodded, then repeated, “Why?

Fillmore hummed, “I don’t know why.”

He frowned, “Okay.”

“Why do you want to know why?” Fillmore asked.

“Because Cruz asked and it upset you, but now you want to know more.”

“... Cruz asking didn’t upset me.”

“Yes it did.” Sarge stated, “You got upset when she brought it up.”

Fillmore shook his head, “No?”

“Stop lying.”

“I was just… annoyed at her that’s all,” Fillmore shrugged, “you brought it up though.”

“Yeah, but only so you could tell her. And she cares because of that movie with Ariel.”

“You have a really good memory,” Fillmore commented.

“There’s not a lot of stuff that needs remembering usually,” Sarge stated.

Fillmore hummed, “At all?”

“I’m alone down there.” he answered.

Fillmore frowned, “Do you get lonely?”

“Lonely?” Sarge repeated, “Well I am alone…?”

“Yeah but,” Fillmore paused, “isn’t it like, sad?”

“Am I sad?”

“Are you?”

“Not anymore.” Sarge stated softly.

Fillmore smiled softly, repeating Sarge, “Not anymore?”

“No,” Sarge nodded, “Not anymore. Are you?”

Fillmore shook his head, “No, I don’t think so”

“...not...anymore?” Sarge offered.

“Not anymore.”

Sarge smiled, relaxing slightly, “Are you...staying?”

Fillmore gestured to his phone, “As long as Cruz doesn’t need me.”

“No, no,” Sarge paused, “Like...you’re going to keep coming back?”

Fillmore nodded, “Yeah, yeah I can keep coming back.”

“Always?”

“Do you want me to always come back?”

Sarge nodded, but didn’t verbally answer.

“Then yeah,” Fillmore hummed.

“What about Cruz?” he asked.

“Will she visit too?”

“Will she come back?” Sarge clarified, “Ever?”

Fillmore paused, “Maybe? ...Probably”

“She doesn’t need to. Just you.”

Fillmore frowned again, “Wait, you’re just... alone down here?”

Sarge nodded, “Just me.”

“All the time?”

“Now, yeah? Just me.”

“... how long has it been like that?”

“Since I was a guppy,” Sarge shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“You… don’t have to be alone,” Fillmore stated.

“I know, but I don’t like other merfolk.” Sarge hummed, “they don’t like me.”

“No I meant,” Fillmore paused, “you could be with me? On… land? If you wanted.”

“Oh.” Sarge slipped back into the water, “....oh.”

“If you want,” Fillmore said, “I just thought… I’d offer?”

Sarge stared blankly at Fillmore.

“You can… say no.”

Still no answer.

“Or uhh that you need to think about it?” Fillmore offered.

Sarge blinked, then raised his head up slightly, “I can’t touch water if I do. And it’ll hurt...and take a while.”

“It’ll… hurt?” Fillmore asked.

Sarge nodded, “losing gills hurts.”

Fillmore paused, “It’s… your choice, Sarge.”

“....Fil?” he mumbled.

“Yeah?”

“If...will you stay with me if I do?” Sarge asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah I’ll stay with you.”

The merman hesitated, “It’ll take a while.”

“I’ll stay.”

“What if Cruz gets mad?” Sarge beached himself, being sure to completely remove himself from the water.

Fillmore shrugged, “I’ll deal with that then, but she won’t get very mad.”

The merman was shorter than Fil, and he looked exactly how Fil assumed he would. Slim, but built well and solidly, his scales were olive green and now that he was closer, Fillmore could see small scattered scales on his arms. Sarge stared at Fil, “You meant it, right?”

“Yeah, I meant it,” Fillmore nodded.

“You didn’t even ask what I was asking about.” he grumbled.

“I meant everything I said.”

Sarge blushed, laying his back against the sand, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Fillmore nodded. The tall man hesitated, then laid down next to Sarge, “You made your decision quicker than I expected.”

“I like you,” Sarge admitted, “I don’t like being alone.”

“I like you too,” Fillmore smiled, “and I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Yesterday, she said you’re alone. Are you?”

“When Cruz is in school, usually.”

Sarge nodded, “When she’s travelling.”

Fillmore paused, before shaking his head, “No, when she’s in school she’s back home with her parents, studying. She only comes out here in the summer.”

Sarge hummed and nodded, then asked, “What about your parents?”

“What about my parents?”

“You don’t go back to your parents?” He clarified.

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh.” Sarge said.

“Yeah,” Fillmore nodded.

Sarge turned to look at Fil, “But she does?”

“She has… a better relationship with her parents than I do with mine.”

“Oh. You don’t go to her parents either?”

Fillmore shook his head, “Her dad is my brother and we don’t get along well.”

“...What did you do?” Sarge asked, “Why are you shameful?”

“Shameful?” Fillmore asked.

“You’re not welcome back.” he explained.

“Oh,” Fillmore nodded, “I’m gay… attracted to men,” he explained, “and my parents and brother weren’t super… cool with that.”

Sarge frowned, “Of course you’re attracted to men. What’s gay?”

He blinked, “Gay… means attracted to the same sex. Like how Cruz is into that marine biologist, Natalie.”

“But everyone is?”

“... No, that’s kind of abnormal up here.”

“But you and Cruz are.”

Fillmore nodded, “It’s not super abnormal, but kind of.”

Sarge hummed, “Everyone is gay that I’ve met.”

Fillmore paused, “That’s… not how it is up here.”

“Well the mermaids aren’t...they don’t interact with us. Unless they have to to mate. But usually it’s...gay,” Sarge tried to explain.

“Oh, alright.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “So it’s different on land?”

“Yeah, it’s different.”

“But...not for you.”

Fillmore shook his head, “Guess not.”

“Good,” Sarge sighed, then winced, “Shit.”

“Are you okay?”

“Just hurts,” he sat up, “It’s fine.”

And it was. Despite the pain and the adjusting, everything was fine. Cruz had an uncle-in-law within the year, and she persuaded(bullied) him to help her set up a fake mermaid event on the beach for children to keep the magic alive.


End file.
